"Travel is a vanishing act. You move through landscapes and other people's lives much like a ghost, touching some things and being touched by others. And on a few occasions you just sit back and take it all in, maybe even learn something."

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Mural ride and my first Critical Mass

So evidently the Burgh has a number of murals throughout the city. For Bike Fest, a week-long cycling event, we did a ride that toured us around the city to observe these works of art. Our group of roughly 30 riders took in some pretty cool stuff.

Critical Mass was absolutely a huge mass of riders. About 40 participants got together to demonstrate bike advocacy. I loved when people on the streets yelled to us to ask what we were or what we were doing. My favorite was when one lady started clapping and cheering us on. You see - there are other means of transportation, specifically my pedaled two-wheel friend. It's all about being in the moment...where it's just you and the bike gliding along in motion. If you need to stop, you stop. If you need to sprint, you sprint. If you need to climb a massive hill like Canton Ave, you can certainly try. You can just do your thing on the bike. That's the simplicity of it, and that's what makes it great.

1 comment:

Nice. It's good to see that in your city Critical Mass celebrates bike advocacy. In Denver, it celebrates bike piracy. Too many people giving the finger to cars and purposely f'ing with traffic. Way to go Pittsburgh!